Breonna Taylor protests

A protest against racism in Berlin, Germany, on June 6, 2020; demonstrators hold posters with the photos of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.

On May 28, 500 to 600 demonstrators marched in Downtown Louisville, chanting, "No justice, no peace, prosecute police!" and "Breonna, Breonna, Breonna!"[4][5] The protests continued into the early morning of May 29, when seven people were shot; one was in critical condition. At the same time, Taylor's sister, Juniyah Palmer, posted on her Facebook page, "At this point y'all are no longer doing this for my sister! You guys are just vandalizing stuff for NO reason, I had a friend ask people why they are there most didn't even know the 'protest' was for my sister."[6][7] These protests and demonstrations were part of the nationwide reaction to the killing of George Floyd, an African-American man who was killed in police custody on May 25, 2020.[8]

On May 27, one Louisville police sergeant said that "The comment section is full of 'All cops need to die' and 'Kill pigs' and things like that" and that several days earlier, while responding to a 911 call near Taylor's apartment, multiple people threw pieces of concrete at police officers (who were uninjured) and then ran away.[9]

On June 27, Steven Lopez was arrested after firing shots on the crowd of protestors gathered at Louisville's Jefferson Square Park, killing one and injuring another.[10] Lopez had previously taken part in the Breonna Taylor protests before the incident took place as well, but later got into arguments with other Jefferson Park protestors which resulted in at least three reported physical confrontations.[10] Lopez was also among a group of 17 Louisville protestors who had been arrested on June 17 for inciting a riot, disorderly conduct, harassment and possession of drug paraphernalia.[10]

On July 4, over 100 people participated in the Youth March for Freedom in downtown Louisville. The participants stopped at historical civil rights sites, and speakers called for the end of racial injustice and told the stories of the people affiliated with the sites.[11] On July 14, the national social justice organization Until Freedom organized a march of over 100 people to Attorney General Cameron's house, where protesters occupied his lawn, demanding charges against the officers involved in the killing.[12][13][14] Police officers and a police helicopter were present as 87 protesters, including Houston Texans wide receiver Kenny Stills and The Real Housewives of Atlanta star Porsha Williams, were arrested and removed from the lawn.[15]

By mid-July, there had been about 50 days of protests. According to LMPD, 435 protesters had been arrested.[16] On July 24, protesters marched into the NuLu area of Louisville, blocked the 600 block of E. Market Street with metal barricades and set up long metal tables for an impromptu block party to highlight demands for NuLu business owners, including hiring a more proportionate number of black workers.[17] Police cleared the street and arrested 76 protesters who refused to leave.[18][17]

On July 25, 300 members of the Atlanta-based black militia NFAC (Not Fucking Around Coalition) marched to Louisville's Metro Hall with the street lined with local protesters. NFAC founder John "Grandmaster Jay" Johnson gave a speech calling on officials to speed up and be more transparent about the investigation into Taylor's death.[19]

As of August 10, LMPD had arrested 500 protesters over 75 days of protests.[20]

On September 23, the night after the grand jury verdict was announced, protesters gathered in the Jefferson Square Park area of Louisville as well as many other U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Dallas, Minneapolis, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Denver, Nashville, Philadelphia, Seattle, San Diego, Las Vegas, and Portland.[21][22] The previous day, a state of emergency had been declared in Louisville in anticipation of the verdict announcement.[23] In Louisville, two LMPD officers were shot during the protest and one suspect was kept in custody.[24][25] Two reporters from the right-wing website The Daily Caller were arrested and charged with breaking curfew and unlawful assembly.[26] In Buffalo, a pickup truck was driven through a crowd of protesters, striking and injuring one.[27]

In Seattle, 13 were arrested for charges ranging from failure to disperse, obstruction, property damage, resisting arrest, and assaulting an officer. One officer was struck on the head with a baseball bat cracking his helmet.[28] In the early morning of September 24, a Seattle Police Officer is seen in a video running over the head of a protestor laying on the ground with his bicycle. As a result of a Seattle Police Department use of force investigation, an unnamed police officer was placed on administrative leave after rolling both wheels of his bicycle over the head of a protester lying in the street. The incident was referred to the King County Sheriff's Office for a potential criminal investigation.[29][30]

In December, the Seattle Police Department was held in federal contempt by the U.S. District Judge Richard Jones for the "indiscriminate" use of blast balls and pepper spray during 2020 BLM protests. "On Sept. 23, an officer who was several rows back from the front of the police line threw a blast ball into a crowd, then immediately turned around, demonstrating a "clear lack of care for where the blast ball landed.""[31]

On September 24 Kentucky state representative and former member of the Louisville Metro Council Attica Scott, the only black woman in the Kentucky General Assembly,[32] was arrested in Louisville before the start of the curfew and spent the night in jail. Along with 17 others Scott was charged with felony first-degree rioting, misdemeanor failure to disperse and misdemeanor unlawful assembly.[32] The charge of rioting was dismissed on October 6 and the misdemeanor charges were dropped on November 16.[32]

In Denver, one person was detained for driving into a protester. No injuries were reported.[33]